Israel and serious concern because of worldwide persecution

by Elze Erwteman

In the Jerusalem Post of 11 Jan. 2018 we read an article about the persecution of Christians. The article is by Benjamin Glatt and is based on the data from Open Doors. De Post writes that about 215 million Christians are being persecuted for their faith. That means 1 in 12 Christians worldwide.

The most dangerous place for Christians is North Korea. There, the persecution is the strongest and then in the Palestinian territories. This is made known by: World Watch List report, which is revised and supplemented annually. The cause of the increase in persecution is the increase of radical Islam. The top 10 countries of the worst persecution are countries with an increase in radical Islam: Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. These follow after North Korea and Palestinian territories.

This is the second consecutive year that Islam is the cause of the increase in persecution of Christians. According to this article in the Jerusalem Post, every day six women are raped, sexually abused and forced into a Muslim marriage under the threat of death if they do not cooperate. The reason is: their Christian faith. The list is important, says Benjamin Glatt in the Jerusalem Post because this measurement is the most reliable measurement in the world with regard to the terrible persecution that increases daily.

Israel is concerned about the increase of the persecution of Christians and uses the data from Open Doors, see opendoors.org. Here again we see the care that Israel has when there is injustice in the world. She is also an example for Western Europe where we see lukewarm attitude in the peoples and even see Christian persecution coming to Western Europe at this moment, especially in Germany. Besides this there is an alarming increase of antisemitism in all Western European countries. We better wake up in the light of Purim!